Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 8500, 8500 N, 8500 DN Printer
PCL Driver for Microsoft(R) Windows
Readme File
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NOTICE!
PLEASE READ "LATE-BREAKING INFORMATION" IN THIS
README FILE FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT.
THIS SECTION IS IN ENGLISH ONLY.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Readme File Contents
I. Introduction
-- Purpose of this Readme file
-- Who needs this software?
-- Overview of the driver software components
-- List of components and version numbers
-- Available documentation
II. Installation Instructions
-- All Windows platforms
-- Windows 3.1x
-- Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0
III. Hints/Issues
-- All Windows platforms
-- Windows 3.1x
-- Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0
IV. Late-Breaking Information (English Only)
V. HP Software and Support Services -- Additional Information
VI. Legal Statements
-- Trademark notices
-- Software license and copyright
****************
I. INTRODUCTION
****************
PURPOSE OF THIS README FILE
This Readme file provides installation notes and software release
notes for the HP PCL printer drivers for Windows 3.1x, Windows 95,
and Windows NT 4.0. These drivers are enhanced for the
HP Color LaserJet 8500 printer.
Note: HP Color LaserJet 8500 printer refers to the
HP Color LaserJet 8500, 8500 N, and 8500 DN printers.
WHO NEEDS THIS SOFTWARE?
The PCL printer driver enables PCL printing on the printer in the
following Windows operating systems:
* Windows 3.1x
* Windows 95
* Windows NT 4.0
For information on other printer drivers, see the Windows
Printing System CD-ROM Readme file (Cljreadme.txt) in the
HP CLJ 8500 Readme folder that is located on the Programs menu in
Program Manager or the Start menu.
OVERVIEW OF THE DRIVER SOFTWARE COMPONENTS
-------------------------
Printer Driver Components
-------------------------
The following components are available in the printer drivers:
Windows 3.1x
------------
HP CLJ 8500-PCL, version 2.00.00
Windows 95
----------
HP CLJ 8500-PCL, version 2.00.00
Windows NT 4.0
--------------
HP CLJ 8500-PCL, version 2.00.00
-------------------------
Specific Printer Features
-------------------------
The following features of the HP Color LaserJet 8500 printer and
the Windows printing system are available.
Note: For more information about the documents referred to
in this section, see "Available Documentation" in this
Readme file.
Paper and Print Job Handling
----------------------------
The following paper and print job handling features can be
used with the printer.
* Paper types and sizes: The printer can print in color on
a number of media types and sizes, including letter-size,
legal-size, A3, A4, 11 by 17 inch, envelopes, card stock,
heavy media up to 58 lb (216 g/m2) bond, and labels.
Depending on the paper size and type, the optional duplex
printing accessory enables color printing on two sides.
For more information on paper and other media, see the
online user's guide.
* Paper trays: The printer has two 500-sheet input trays
(trays 2 and 3) that support letter-, legal-, and
A4-sized media. In addition, tray 3 supports 11-by-17
inch and A3-sized media. Tray 1, a 100-sheet multipurpose
tray, supports such media sizes and types as letter,
legal, executive, A4, and custom-sized media (up to 12 by
18.5 inch), as well as envelopes, labels, and card stock.
In addition to these three trays, an optional tray can be
installed in the printer that holds up to 2,000 sheets of
paper. For information on using the paper trays, see the
online user's guide. For instructions on setting up the
printer driver to print from the optional 2,000-sheet
input tray, see the online Help.
* Optional duplex printing accessory: An optional duplex
printing accessory can be installed in the printer,
allowing you to print in color on both sides of a page
(often called duplex printing). For instructions on
installing the duplex printing accessory, see the
installation guide for the duplex printing accessory. See
the online Help for information on how to set up the
printer driver for duplex printing.
* Multi-bin mailbox: A multi-bin mailbox can be installed
with the printer that provides multiple output
destinations for print jobs. The printer must have a
2,000-sheet input tray before a multi-bin mailbox can be
added. For more information on installing the multi-bin
mailbox, see the installation guide for the multi-bin
mailbox. See the online Help for information on how to
set up the printer driver for using the multi-bin
mailbox.
* Proof and Print: The Proof and Print feature allows you
to print one copy of a job for proofreading and then
quickly and easily print any remaining copies from the
printer control panel. An optional hard disk is required
to use this feature. For more information on using the
Proof and Print feature, see the online Help.
* Reusable Settings: Reusable Settings save a group of
printer driver properties. If you print a document that
requires setting several printer driver properties, such
as printing a multiple-paged company letter that uses a
different type of paper for the first page than the rest
of the pages, the properties can be saved and used to
print similar documents. See the printer driver online
Help for information on using Reusable Settings.
* Pages per Sheet: The Pages per Sheet option allows you to
print multiple pages on a single sheet of paper. The
multiple pages (1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 16 pages per sheet)
appear smaller and are arranged based on the number of
pages printed on the sheet. See the online Help for
information on using the Pages per Sheet option.
Additional Memory
-----------------
Either an optional printer hard disk or an optional
ROM (read-only memory) or synchronous DRAM (dynamic random-
access memory) DIMM (dual inline memory module) device
memory can be installed in the printer. These accessories
provide storage for fonts and macros as well as allow proof
and print and mopying capabilities (multiple original
prints). See the online user's guide for information on the
printer hard disk and the optional ROM and synchronous DRAM
DIMM device memory.
Color
-----
HP ColorSmart II provides improved print quality, supporting
exceptional 600-by-600 dpi color output. HP ColorSmart II
automates your printer's color controls by intelligently
analyzing your documents, identifying the objects on each
page, and then automatically maximizing the vibrancy and
clarity of the printed output. See the online Help for
information on using HP ColorSmart II.
You can also manually specify color settings for your print
jobs, which allows you to adjust the color control and
halftone settings independently for printed text, graphics,
and images.
Black and white printing allows you to print color documents
in varying shades of gray. Color images that are printed in
black and white print faster and are easier to reproduce on
black-and-white-only devices, such as copiers and fax
machines.
For more information on HP ColorSmart II, as well as
adjusting colors manually and printing in black and white,
see the online Help for the printer driver.
Watermarks
----------
A watermark adds background text to a document being printed.
For example, you can print text in the background of your
document stating that the document is "Confidential". You can
create your own watermarks or select from predefined
watermarks to print with your documents, as well as edit the
watermark text and change the font type, size, angle, color,
and position of an existing watermark. See the online Help
for information on using watermarks.
LIST OF COMPONENTS AND VERSION NUMBERS
Two CD-ROMs are included with this printer. CD-ROM1 contains the
printer software; CD-ROM2 contains the online user's guide.
Note: Depending on the operating system in use, some of the
directories might not be accessible.
-------------------
Contents of CD-ROM1
-------------------
Root directory
--------------
* Hpsetup.exe
* Setup.exe
* Readme.txt
Directory
---------
\<operating system> (Example: \Win9x, \Winnt, \Os2)
\Autocad
Subdirectory 1
--------------
\<language> (Example: \English, \Dansk, \Deutsch)
Subdirectories 2 and 3
----------------------
<\Disk1, \Disk2, ...\DiskN>\files (\Disk1 contains Setup.exe)
\Pcl\Disk1 ...\DiskN (contains Oemsetup.inf)
\Ps\Disk1 ...\DiskN (contains Oemsetup.inf)
\Jetadmin\<\Disk1, ...\Disk4>
-------------------
Contents of CD-ROM2
-------------------
Directory
---------
\Autocad\<language> (Example: \English, \Dansk, \Deutsch)
\<operating system> (Example: \Win9x, \Winnt) \<language>
Subdirectory (under \<operating system>\<language>)
---------------------------------------------------
\Fonts\<Adobe(TM) Acrobat Reader Fonts>
\Hp8500.pdf <online user's guide file>
\Setup.exe
\<Acrobat Reader uncompressed>
\<Acrobat Reader compressed> (installed with Setup.exe)
AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION
Several references are available on using the printer and the
printer software.
-- An online user's guide, available in PDF format from CD-ROM2
-- A printed getting started guide, provided with the printer at
the time of purchase
-- A printed quick reference guide to keep at the printer,
provided with the printer at the time of purchase
-- Online Help files, available for most drivers and HP printer
utilities
-- Readme files for the PCL and PostScript printer drivers
-- HP JetDirect Print Server Software Installation Guide,
provided with the HP Color LaserJet 8500 N and 8500 DN
printers
-- Consumable installation guides, provided in each consumable kit
-- Accessory installation guides, provided with each accessory
-- Support and update information from HP's website (The address
for this website is provided in "HP Software and Support
Services -- Additional Information" in this Readme file.)
******************************
II. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
******************************
ALL WINDOWS PLATFORMS
--------------------------------------------------------------
Using the Setup Software with Multilingual Versions of Windows
--------------------------------------------------------------
When you are operating in a Windows environment, the setup
software automatically detects the version of the operating
system that you are using. The software is installed in the
language that you have selected in your Windows Control Panel.
This means that if the language preference is set to Spanish and
you are operating an English version of Windows, the
installation utility installs the Spanish version of the
Windows printing system.
If the language you select in the Windows Control Panel is not
available in the software, the installation utility installs the
English version of the Windows printing system.
WINDOWS 3.1X
------------------------------------------------------------
Installing the Printer Drivers Using the Windows Add Printer
Feature
------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to install the printer drivers from the printing
system CD-ROM (CD-ROM1) or if you received ONLY a printer driver
and its associated files (for example, through HP Electronic
Services), complete the following steps.
1. Close all applications, terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR)
programs, and virus checkers.
After installation, you can restart these programs.
2. From the Program Manager, double-click the Main group.
3. Double-click the Print Manager icon.
The Print Manager dialog box appears.
4. From the Options menu, click Printer Setup.
5. In the Printers dialog box, click Add.
6. In the List Of Printers box, click Install Or Update Printer.
7. Click Install.
8. Insert the Windows Printing System CD-ROM (CD-ROM1).
Note: If you are installing the printer drivers from disks,
insert Disk 1 for either the PostScript or PCL printer
driver into the disk drive. If you are installing the
printer drivers from an electronic file, go to step 9.
9. Type or browse for one of the following paths:
* Adobe PostScript driver:
\<operating system>\<language>\PS\Disk1\Oemsetup.inf
* PCL driver:
\<operating system>\<language>\PCL\Disk1\Oemsetup.inf
(If you are installing the Windows printing system from disks,
locate the Oemsetup.inf file.)
Note: You can only install one printer driver at a time. If
you want to install both the Adobe PostScript and PCL
drivers, repeat steps 3 to 11 to add the second printer
driver.
10. Click OK. The computer installs the printer driver files.
11. Make sure the driver you want to install is selected, and then
click Connect.
All Windows-based applications will use the
HP Color LaserJet 8500 printer as the default printer.
12. In the Ports list, select the port you want to assign to the
printer.
* If you select a COM port, you may need to change the
communications settings.
* If you select FILE, you will be prompted for a filename
every time you print to that printer.
* If you are using more than one printer, you can connect one
printer to each of ports LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3.
Note: Each printer you install is assigned to the port LPT1.
If your printer is connected to a different port, you
need to change the port assignment.
13. Provide the necessary information in the dialog box, and then
click OK.
WINDOWS 95 AND WINDOWS NT 4.0
-------------------------------------------------------------
Installing the Printer Drivers Using the Add Printer Wizard
-------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to install the printer drivers from the printing
system CD-ROM (CD-ROM1) or if you received ONLY a printer driver
and its associated files (for example, through HP Electronic
Services), complete the following steps.
Note: The Add Printer wizard allows you to install only one
printer driver at a time. If you want to install both
the PostScript and PCL drivers, repeat the following
instructions to add the second printer driver.
1. Close all applications, terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR)
programs, and virus checkers.
After installation, you can restart these programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Printers.
3. Double-click Add Printer.
4. Follow the instructions in the Add Printer wizard.
5. When asked to select the Manufacturer and Printer, click
Have Disk.
6. Insert the Windows Printing System CD-ROM (CD-ROM1) into the
CD-ROM drive.
Note: If you are installing the printer drivers from disks,
insert Disk 1 for either the PostScript or PCL printer
driver into the disk drive. If you are installing the
printer drivers from an electronic file, go to step 7.
7. Type or browse for one of the following paths:
* PostScript driver:
\<operating system>\<language>\PS\Disk1\Oemsetup.inf
* PCL driver:
\<operating system>\<language>\PCL\Disk1\Oemsetup.inf
8. Click OK.
9. Follow the instructions in the Add Printer wizard.
The computer installs only the PostScript driver or the
PCL driver.
******************
III. HINTS/ISSUES
******************
ALL WINDOWS PLATFORMS
-----------
Online Help
-----------
Online Help files are included for the printing software,
the HP FontSmart utility, and the HP JetAdmin software. Click Help
to access help information. In Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0,
click the What's This help icon (the question mark at the top
right corner of the dialog box).
-------------------------
Current HP LaserJet Users
-------------------------
If you currently have an HP LaserJet printer driver installed on
your computer system, this printing software can be safely
installed. It can coexist with drivers for different printers. It
replaces and updates only previous versions of the printing
software for this printer. The new printer driver has property
pages similar to your older printer driver, but it reflects the
features and capabilities of the current driver.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Upgrading from Windows 3.1x to Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0
-----------------------------------------------------------
After completing the upgrade to Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0, you
must reinstall the printer driver.
-------------------------
Upgrading Printer Drivers
-------------------------
For best printer performance, HP recommends that you use the most
current version of the printer drivers. New drivers have property
pages similar to your older HP Color LaserJet printer driver, but
provide the newest features and capabilities of the updated
HP Color LaserJet printer driver.
See "HP Software and Support Services -- Additional Information"
in this Readme file for information on obtaining updated drivers.
WINDOWS 3.1X
-----------------------------------------
Finding the Printer Driver Version Number
-----------------------------------------
If you installed a printer driver that was supplied with your
Windows operating system for the printer and you also installed
the printing software supplied with the printer, multiple printer
drivers might exist on your computer system. Use these steps to
find out which drivers are installed.
1. From the Program Manager, double-click the Main group.
2. From the Main group, double-click the Print Manager icon.
3. On the Options menu, click Printer Setup.
4. Click the HP CLJ 8500-PCL printer, and then click Setup.
5. Click the About tab.
The About dialog box appears, which contains the printer driver
version number, as well as the printer driver name and
HP copyright information.
WINDOWS 95 AND WINDOWS NT 4.0
-----------------------------------------
Finding the Printer Driver Version Number
-----------------------------------------
If you installed a printer driver that was supplied with your
Windows operating system for the printer and you also installed
the printing software supplied with the printer, multiple printer
drivers might exist on your computer system. Use these steps to
find out which drivers are installed.
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
2. Right-click the printer name, and then click Properties.
3. Click the About tab.
The About dialog box appears, which contains the printer driver
version number, as well as the printer driver name and
HP copyright information.
You can find the version number of the printer driver by printing
a test page:
1. From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
2. Right-click the printer name, and then click Properties.
3. Click the General tab, and then click Print Test Page.
The Printer Test Page includes the following information (shown
here with sample data).
Printer Name: <user definable>
Printer Model: HP CLJ 8500-PCL
Driver Name: HPCPCLA.DRV
Driver Version: 4.00
*********************************************
IV. LATE-BREAKING INFORMATION (ENGLISH ONLY)
*********************************************
README FILES LOCATED ON CD-ROM1
In the "List of Components and Version Numbers" section of this
Readme file, three files are listed as being located in the root
directory of CD-ROM1. Readme.txt, which is one of these files, is
not included in the root directory of CD-ROM1.
Other Readme files (for the printing system CD-ROM and the printer
drivers) are located on CD-ROM1. To find these Readme files,
browse the directories within the appropriate operating system and
language folders.
**************************************************************
IV. HP SOFTWARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
**************************************************************
Refer to the printer's online user's guide for additional methods of
obtaining software and support information, such as other driver
distribution centers, other online services, fax service, and online
support.
INTERNET
Anonymous FTP library service is available for around-the-clock
access to drivers and technical support information for
Hewlett-Packard peripheral and computer products. Note that the
paths might change without notice. Access the Internet or FTP
address and use the menus to locate the software or support of
your choice.
URL for Software and Support: http://www.hp.com/go/cposupport
URL for Access HP: http://www.hp.com
FTP address: ftp.hp.com
Login: anonymous
Password: your Internet name (or user identification)
********************
V. LEGAL STATEMENTS
********************
TRADEMARK NOTICES
Adobe(TM) and PostScript(TM) are trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated which may be registered in certain jurisdictions.
Microsoft(R), Windows(R), MS Windows(R), and Windows NT(R)
are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
SOFTWARE LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT
This Software is owned and copyrighted by Hewlett-Packard or its
third-party suppliers. Additional copies of the Software are
available through the Windows Installer Disk Copy utility or at
the HP website: http://www.hp.com
"NO WARRANTY. This Software is provided "As Is" with no Warranty.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. IN NO EVENT WILL HP OR HP SUPPLIERS BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING LOSS OF USE OR LOSS OF DATA) OR OTHER
DAMAGES ALLEGED TO BE CAUSED BY THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE."
U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS: The Software and any
accompanying documentation have been developed entirely at
private expense. They are delivered and licensed as "commercial
computer software" as defined in DFARS 252.227-7013 (Oct 1988 ),
DFARS 252.211-7015 (May 1991) or DFARS 252.227-7014 (Jun 1995),
as a "commercial item" as defined in FAR 2.101(a), or as
"Restricted computer software" as defined in FAR 52.227-19
(Jun 1987) (or any equivalent agency regulation or contract
clause), whichever is applicable. You have only those rights
provided for such Software and any accompanying documentation by
the applicable FAR or DFARS clause or the HP standard software
agreement for the product involved. The owner is Hewlett-Packard
Company, 3000 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, California 94304.
Copyright (C) 1997 Hewlett-Packard Company.
Copyright (C) 1990 Microsoft Corp.
All Rights Reserved.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.